Brain Health Retired Elite Athletes Clinical Trial
Official title:
An Investigation Into the Long-term Brain Health of Retired Professional Rugby Players, With a History of Concussion/Head Impact Exposure
| Verified date | May 2018 |
| Source | University of Dublin, Trinity College |
| Contact | n/a |
| Is FDA regulated | No |
| Health authority | |
| Study type | Observational |
There has been significant recent interest on the issue of brain health in athletes.
Participation in sports is generally viewed as extremely positive. Consistent evidence
supports associations among exercise, cognitive vitality, neural functioning and decreased
risk of cognitive decline. However, In the last decade, a dramatic shift in both public and
scientific perception around the long-term consequences of concussion is evident. Rugby is a
popular full-contact sport played throughout the world at varying levels of competition,
including professional level. The game exposes players to inherent risk of injury including
repetitive head impacts, due to the high number of collisions and tackles involved. Perhaps
not surprisingly, given the physical nature of the sport, rugby has one of the highest rates
of concussion of all full-contact sports. Evidence from a recent meta-anaysis found the
incidence of concussion to be 4.73 per 1000 player match hours. Given the high incidence of
concussion that has been reported in the literature to date, the issue of concussion and
repeated head impact exposure is of particular concern in rugby.
Comprehensive investigation of cognition in living retired sports persons with previous
exposure to repetitive head impact is noticeably lacking in the literature to date. Findings
are inconsistent and investigations are shrouded by consistent methodological biases and
flaws, reducing the overall quality of the studies. Relatively little research has been
conducted on the long-term effects of repetitive mild TBI or sports concussion on the retired
athlete's brain health with ageing. The potential long-term consequences are poorly
understood and warrant more research. This study aims to investigate the brain health of
retired rugby players in comparison to retired rowers who have achieved the same levels of
exercise, without exposure to SRCs
| Status | Not yet recruiting |
| Enrollment | 200 |
| Est. completion date | December 15, 2018 |
| Est. primary completion date | December 15, 2018 |
| Accepts healthy volunteers | Accepts Healthy Volunteers |
| Gender | Male |
| Age group | N/A and older |
| Eligibility |
Inclusion Criteria: - Male A retired professional rugby player (no age limit), who has played at least one season of professional rugby. A retired international rower (no age limit), who completed and trained full time for at least one season. Athletes who have given informed consent and are willing to participate in the study. Exclusion Criteria: - You have a history of a non-sports related moderate to severe concussion or brain injury (eg a motor vehicle accident) You have had a concussion in the last year. You have had treatment of chemotherapy or radiotherapy in last 12 months. You have a bleeding disorder (will exclude you from blood sampling only). |
| Country | Name | City | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| n/a | |||
| Lead Sponsor | Collaborator |
|---|---|
| University of Dublin, Trinity College |
| Type | Measure | Description | Time frame | Safety issue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | Brain Health Assessment | Investigating cognitive functioning | 1 hour | |
| Secondary | Concussion History Assessment | History of concussion/head impact exposure | 20 minutes |